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Monday, December 1, 2014

El Nido, Palawan: The Stunning Twin Beach of Nacpan and Calitang

The first time I saw a photo of Nacpan-Calitang Twin Beach posted on Facebook years ago, I was immediately captivated by its gorgeous view. I told myself that I ought to visit this place someday. During that time, I still thought that El Nido is an expensive place to go. But reading travel blogs made me discover that it is a place for budget travelers too. My desire to visit El Nido grew even more until finally I was able to book airline promo fare tickets to Palawan. Naturally, a visit to Nacpan-Calitang Twin Beach is on top of my things to do in El Nido.

The early morning drizzle did not deter me and Malou to push through with out plan to visit Nacpan. We rented a motorbike and traversed the approximately 20 kilometer-route from the town proper of El Nido to Nacpan Beach. About half of this distance is consists of rough roads and the last four-kilometer stretch going to Nacpan is in really bad condition. Despite the fact that I am used to driving a motorbike, I have to let Malou get off the bike on some water-covered potholes. It was a tough ride but after a little over one hour, we finally reached the beach of my dreams.

Nacpan Beach has a long 4-kilometer stretch of powdery, cream-colored sands. Tall coconut trees stood a good distance from the shore giving it a warm, tropical feel and to my liking, the long beach is devoid of overdeveloped resorts.

We rested on a cottage owned by Kyla's Cocina which sells food and drinks along the beach. As I spoke with the owner, I was pleasantly surprised that she speaks fluent Bisaya. From her, I found out that plenty of locals living in Nacpan speak Bisaya/Cebuano. It is because they are descendants of fisherfolks from Masbate and Cebu who migrated in this part of Palawan because of its rich fishing grounds. This made me feel even more at home in Nacpan.

As I longed to see the view of Nacpan-Calitang Twin Beach, Malou and I walked towards the beach's southwest end. We passed by some residential dwellings before reaching the foot of the hill. Sadly, the residents in this part of the beach did not care much about the environment as thrashes were just carelessly left lying in the sands. I certainly hope that local officials would do something about this as it definitely spoils the beautiful view of the beach.

The climb to the hill was short but steep. A narrow trail leads to the top where I finally saw the stunning view of Nacpan and Calitang Twin Beach. The view was certainly mesmerizing that it made the long travel all worth it. I thoroughly cherished the moment of another dream destination come true.

After savoring the jaw-dropping view, Malou and I made our way back down to the beach. Upon arriving back at Kyla's cottage, I immediately took off my singlet and went for a swim. Because of the strong waves, I did not stray too far away from the shore. I just let the blue waters cool off my body while I soak on the gorgeous scenery which stretches as far as my eyes could see.

Me and my wife got bitten by nikniks 3 days ago. We were under a shade in Nacpan at around 10am when we noticed the nikniks biting our legs, arms and back. You wont feel the bite right away but the itchiness will stay for days. We found that the insects avoided parts of skin with freshly applied sunblock so we used sunblock as repellant but it was too late because we already had bites.

If you are in Nacpan, watch out if there are tiny insects in your feet. Once you confirm its presence, apply some oily or strong smelling lotion. Go towards sunlight and stay away from shaded areas. They say that these insects are notorious during early morning and late afternoon and tend to avoid the heat of the sun.